Game Over.. -Open-

[Cody Travers]

The ball smacked the concrete with force as hands forced it back down. It fumbled and bounced to a great rhythm that could be used as a beat. It was amusing to Cody.

There he stood alone out in the court before school started. It was his first day and it was still rather misty out from it being so early. Chains rattled from the slight amount of breeze that blew by in the court. It was the sound of anxiousness.

Cody brought the strange beat of the ball to a stop in his hands. He looked up to the goal ahead of him. The basketball net lined with chains. Cody bent his knees a little and focused his power into the shot.

Suddenly, something interrupted his train of thought and he broke out into a one handed force swing of the ball to the wooden backboard. The ball forced it's way through the bit of wood as Cody stood there.

"Grah! Dammit!...Stupid ball.."

Cody looked down at his high tops..They were green as usual. No change. Just like Cody. No change at all. He held his hands in front of him and looked at his hand wraps. Still the same. Cody cursed silently as he moved towards the ball again to pick it up.

Cody picked up the ball and proceeded with the same strange beat that he had started with in the first place. The beat began to sound faster as the rush of the ball hit harder to the ground. He once again bent his knees, intent on making this shot count. He then proceeded to jump and followed through with the throw..

[Delilah A. Black]

A high whistle would peirce the air as the boy jumped, ringing and echoing through the hollow area with a sightly metalic ring. Delilah would be standing a few feet away from the tarmac, leaning against the chainlink fence with air of definete confidence. She raised an eyebrow at him and smiked a little. "And how long have you been out here, performing jumpshots with form like that?"

[Cody Travers]

Cody fired the ball from his hands as he leapt through the air with his so called "precision form"...It soared through the air..

Whirling..

Flying..

Sailing..

Bouncing off the red rim, shaking the links on the net..

Falling..

Bouncing off the ground..

Failure..

Cody let out a small growl..He had wanted that ball to go in..He cursed lightly under his breath in the silence..Until footsteps could be heard.

"And how long have you been out here, performing jumpshots with form like that?"

..At first Cody didn't know what to say..He turned 90 degrees letting out a soft..

"Hey, who-"

He cut himself off. Someone was actually talking to him for once. He just realized that someone had bothered to step out of thier life and actually make an aquantince with this rebellious rough destructive young man.

He turned around fully to see who this person was..

A-a-a Girl! N-no way! A g-girl is talking to me?!

..Indeed it was a female. Cody froze. No girl had ever bothered to stop and talk to this guy before. He immediately started to try and think of something to say but all he could draw was a blank.

"Y-you..You were watching...me play..?" He blurted out in a deep quiet tone.

Cody immediately brought his arm to his side and looked downward at his sneakers.

No change..

Just like Cody..

He tried to calm himself. He was never surprised like this before..

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah blinked in surprise at the sudden switch of personality and cocked a dainty eyebrow. That was odd. 'Guess he's just girl shy. she thought mildly. She stooped to pick up the ball which had rolled to her feet and lifted it, tossing it between the fingertips of both her hands. "Yeah, I've been watching." Delilah replied soothly, taking a few steps towards him. Stopped in front of the boy, she leaned forwards and lightly rapped her knuckles on his forehead. "My eyes aren't on my boots." She told him with a teasing lilt to her voice.

Delilah held the orange object out to the boy, but not before spinning its axis on her pinky finger. Little show off, she was. "Show me that jump shot again."

[Cody Travers]

Cody once agian tried to think of things to say..He was stuck! A girl was talking to him!

"..."

"Yeah, I've been watching."

Huh? She was watching? If this was true..Then Cody must've screwed up horribly..He shuddered at the chance to impress someone. He felt empty..He closed his eyes for a bit..

Then he felt the sudden small force on his head. He opened his eyes to her face by his surprise. He took a good long look before he heard her speak.

"My eyes aren't on my boots."

D'oh! He was so concerned about what had happened and what was going on that he failed to realize that this was the first person he'd met since transferring to this school. Way to screw up Cody..He blushed heavily and scratched that back of his head.

Suddenly, she held out the basketball to him after showing off her skills as the balancing act on her pinky was entertaining to him.

Wow..She's good..Much better than I can say..

"Show me that jump shot again."

Cody almost fell backwards.

"You...Want me to show it to you...Again?" He asked as he slowly reached out for the ball.

Cody was confused. Failure to him meant a heavy beating. Or worse. Exile for a while. But this was the real world..To his thoughts..It meant Exile from everyone..

Cody turned towards the small basketball goal. The net.

He bounced the ball slowly off the black patch of doom that he was standing on. He began to sweat. Hard.

He was becoming more and more stress with each and every bounce.

He stopped.

Cody bent his knees and raised the doomed item over his head. He jumped into the air. It seemed as though time had stopped. He released the ball from his sweaty hands..She was watching..It had to count..

The ball flew..

Slowly..

Heavily..

It fell..

Short..

..off the back board..

and into the basket.

Cody let out a sigh of relief...He turned to the girl. Beaming with a smile he let his arms down. He felt like he was going to fall over.

"How..How was that..?" He said in a shaky yet confident tone.

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah smiled approvingly. "Much better. Your arms weren't as tense when you took the shot the first couple of times." She laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. "You straightened your back a little more too; that gave you the extra arc."

Shaking out her hands now, she walked to where the ball had fallen and picked it up. She studied it for a moment before spinning it into the palm of her left hand, her right on the side of the ball.

Changing her mind at the last minute, she curved the ball into her right hand and hooked it towards the basket.

up

up...

and in, with a satisfying 'swish' of net.

Delilah smiled. She could never resist doing that. "I'm Delilah. You're new here, aren't you?"

[Cody Travers]

"Much better. Your arms weren't as tense when you took the shot the first couple of times."

"You straightened your back a little more too; that gave you the extra arc."

Praise...From a girl..

Cody smiled happily. It was really the first time he received praise..For something that he earned. That he had worked hard for.

He watched as she played with the ball masterfully..Gracefully..Almost as if she was controlling the ball with her mind to go where she wanted it to go. And then the shot..The best shot he'd seen..It was amazing..The satifiying swish..The form..It was all perfect..Cody watched in awe..

Sure it made him feel inferior but he still couldn't help but smile.

"I'm Delilah. You're new here, aren't you?"

Delilah..What a nice name.

"Y-yeah.." He looked down with his shodden reply..

"That's right..I am new..You're pretty smart. And you're also very athletic." He said softly.

"My na-" He cut himself off..

His name..He decided to switch the subject.

"Wh-what are you doing here so early?" He quickly asked.

[Delilah A. Black]

She half shrugged, grabbing the ball again. “I’m new too. Just came here around two months ago.” Delilah turned her head to smile at him. “And I’m not athletic at all actually. The only reason I made that shot is geometry; exert the right amount of force, arch the arm at a 160 degree with follow through, measure the distance between myself an the net, and-“ to finish her sentence, she let the ball go in yet another flawless hook shot, bouncing off the rim and landing neatly in the basket. “-and voila.” She turned her head to look at him again as she grabbed the ball and chest passed it back to him. “I was out for my morning run and saw you shooting. Decided to come by. Same question for you.”